ConC.E.R.Ned

Normally, I don't like DooM (1 or UD) WADs because I tired shooting baddies with shotgun as most of them tend put a lot of shotgun guys/ammo and I have shot those full of shotty shit...well, this one can't escaped from that but I found author's tricky as I didn't found many of them(or they placed when I needed to use shotty), also the monster placements(with middle-tier ones) in this megawad helped too, even E1 doesn't suffers low-tier ammo-droping-fest unlike IWAD and most PWADs.

Level layouts and theme are interesting, some E3 levels just a little mazed but I feel okay, never get lost...many levels I feel plays like IWAD but better and larger, you'll found middle-tier monsters in E1 levels and it helps the gameplay, unlike the IWAD you'll have too much ammo in every level even pistol start, if you wasted too much and will out of ammo for sure(at least in UV).

All I can say about this megawad is...fun,  vanilla fun. Except E3M8, the yellow key area with platforming when all enemies + 4 cyberdemons are try to kill me and battles-of-deal-with-4-cyberdemons-or/and-other-powerful-monsters are nasty to me, on top of them, the final "BOSS"...I feel trolled...really? IoS-style?? IT'S ****ING DOOM, NOT DOOM 2 WHY USE IOS-STYLE AS FINAL BOSS?!  :P

(At least there is no respawning monster cubes just annoying cyberdemons and barons...but they're still give me a lot of headaches as the battle area isn't very huge and a little cramped I think...)

But at least IDMUS11 helps me dealt with those problems all, for some reasons I feel the main theme of Power Ranger does fit DooM...don't know why but I keep switch to the theme with IDMUS11 cheat if I don't like the level's music, helps me blast through this megawad and the nasty E3M8. :P

Nice and interesting megawad, nice architecture, textures and monster placement.

Only complaint would be the ending of last map E3M8 (I guess), it was too excessive to be attacked at the same time by 3 cyberdemons, 8 barons and 10 shotgunners

Done with these settings:

- GLBoom+ 2.5.1.4. complevel 3.

- Hurt Me Plenty.

- Continuous combined with a pistol start mindset.

- Saves every 10 minutes or so.

A good megawad of varying levels of enjoyment. The aesthetics are quite simple, it's all Doom textures, maps are mostly structured in similar ways, that is a lot of symmetry in some maps, square shaped rooms, semi-circle stairs and big spacious areas. I found the maps to look just good enough to keep me immersed into the gameplay, and it got better in the third (and fourth) episodes. A few maps play with darkness and/or complete lack of light in some parts, which added pressure specially when dealing against hordes or turrets. There's a nice selection of midis, except for the one in E3M1, I liked them all. 

Gameplay was fairly enjoyable, most of the time. One would think that, the absence of Doom II enemies and the SSG would lead to boredom or repetitive battles. That might happen sometimes here, it can depend on your willingness to enjoy the limitations of the first edition, if you're accustomed to see all the bestiary, but it also depends on what the maps have to offer, and I think ConC.E.R.Ned succeeded at developing interesting encounters at times. In many occasions, you have to skip enemies to look for weapons and ammo; in other situations you get ambushed by teleporting enemies from several points, whether you get to squeeze through them or not it's up to each player; or use your agility to be as least exposed to crossfire as possible. There's a questionable use of barons in the mapset, sometimes too many of them and not in a threatening way, and sometimes replacing a UV cyberdemon that wasn't any necessary to be replaced. Although there are good moments, like tight traps where you are given rockets to use. I liked that the two boss-tiers were frequent since the first episode, there's even a map dedicated to cyberdemons in the third episode, and a hidden spiderdemon serving as a sort of Romero Head in the last map (the photo, though, unexpected). 

In terms of secrets, the usual ones are computer panels probably flashing, in episode 1, a different texture in a square shaped pillar, or a secret tiny green switch somewhere. I got accustomed after a while, despite I'm not a fan of hitting random walls. All provide nice rewards, though. 

My favourite maps are E1M4, E2M6, E3M8, while the rest are good and ok, also some are a bit uninteresting, specially from episodes 1 and 3. 

Overall, I had fun, would recommend it to anyone who's loves no revenants anywhere, as a change of pace. Also, add Draft Excluder and play this as a full 36-maps megawad. Without it, my rate for the three episodes as a whole is 7/10.

while I redo all of my former reviews that aren't that good, I come back to ConC.E.R.Ned, cannonball's first real major project. and oddly enough, even though I got used to the gameplay style cannonball uses, which had me redoing the reviews for Return to Hadron, I still don't think this is a good megawad. with Hadron rehashing most of the E1 and E2 maps pretty well. each episode is packed with non-stop action, going into slaughter territory at times, but the overall feel of going through 27 maps of this kind of gameplay would get tiring, especially through the longer maps. the third episode tries to be the most unique one, with a Cyberdreams beginning which is rehashed into E3M9 and a few decent levels, well, E3M7 can be thrown away honestly. E3M8 is a huge finale and may be the most taxing one.

but overall, I still don't really like this one as much as I like cannonball's other maps, which after replaying them, I found them much better. this one, still pretty meh even though it tries real well.